CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS FROM THE CUSCUTA CHINENSIS WHOLE PLANT AND SALACIA OBLONGA ROOTS

Mohammed Ali*, Priyanka Bagri, Shahnaz Sultana, Showkat Rassol Mir and Sayeed Ahmad

ABSTRACT

Cuscuta chinensis Lam. (Convolvulaceae) is a slender yellow twining, holoparasitic plant used to treat chronic diarrhoea, decreased eyesight, impotence, leucorrhoea, lumbago, frequent micturition, nocturnal emissions, threatened abortion and vertigo. Salacia oblonga Wall. (family Celastraceae) is a climbing stout shrub with densely warty, lanceolate branchlets. Its aerial parts and roots are prescribed to cure asthma, diabetes, ear diseases, gonorrhoea, itching, leukaemia, inflammation and rheumatism. This research work was undertaken to characterize structures of chemical constituents isolated from these plants. Phytochemical investigation of the whole plant C. chinensis afforded known compounds identified as octadecanoic acid (stearic acid, 1) and tetradecyl palmitate (myristyl palmitate, 2), a new phenyl substituted ethyl glycol characterized as 1′-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl) ethyl-1′β, 2′-diol (3), n-pentatriacontane (4) and a new unsaturated aliphatic alcohol formulated as (Z), (Z)-n-tetratriacont-21,27-dien-1-ol (5). The roots of S. oblonga afforded two new ponkoranol derivatives identified as 6′-dehydroxyneoponkoranol (6) and 5ʹ-epi-6′-dehydroxyneoponkoranol (7) together with a known de-O-sulphonated ponkoranol (neoponkoranol, 8). The structures of isolated phytoconstituents were established on the basis of analysis of spectral data and chemical means.

Keywords: Cuscuta chinensis plant, Salacia oblonga roots, phytoconstituents, isolation, characterization.